


Water at the Edge of the World

by RoseisaRoseisaRose



Series: Everyday I'm Drabbling [15]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Nostalgia, Post Time Skip, but instead I wrote about how I'm afraid of the ocean, i regret to report that it's about beaches but no one is having a fun sexy time, sorry - Freeform, which is kind of what you expect from a beach fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseisaRoseisaRose/pseuds/RoseisaRoseisaRose
Summary: Leonie has never seen the ocean before. Lorenz makes her an offer.Written for the Felannie discord drabble challenge; this week's prompt was "Beaches."
Relationships: Lorenz Hellman Gloucester/Leonie Pinelli
Series: Everyday I'm Drabbling [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649380
Comments: 10
Kudos: 37
Collections: Those Who Drabble in the Dark





	Water at the Edge of the World

In the woods behind Leonie’s village, there was a stream that stretched beyond the trees. It was gentle and bubbling and it sang as you crossed it. She felt the rush of water around her ankles too early in the spring and too late into the fall every year of her life for as long as she could remember. The stream was kind to even the smallest children, and she had never been afraid of it. It wasn’t until she was entering her teens, drunk with power and her own assurance that she would never die, that she followed the stream past the treeline. She caught up to an older band of village boys, even more assured of their immortality, and she mimicked their bravado as the stream became a river and the twilight became darkness and still they kept walking. When they reached the end, hours later, the water that stretched before her seemed impossible. She couldn’t see the other side in the darkness, just water that turned into water that disappeared into water. She would return, when she was older, when it was daylight, when she had other young, brash eleven-year-old girls following behind her this time, and she would stare at the edge of the water, barely making out trees on the other side. There was always a rumor, among the village children, that someone had managed to swim to the other side. Leonie was the fastest runner, the strongest fighter, the deftest hunter in her village. She left the water well enough alone. She let it stretch out for eternity, reveling in the way it made her feel small and safe against it.

It was nothing compared to the ocean.

It was sunset when she saw it – more sunlight than when she first saw the lake, but less warmth than she would have liked. She stood ankle deep against the waves, which sometimes became knee-deep against the waves, and shivered, looking out into the sea, which stretched out forever.

The battle at Ailell had been hard-won, and it stretched too far into the evening. She had half-expected Claude to suggest they camp in eternal flame, just as a way to one-up Judith, but he’d made an actual adult decision and dragged the army out of the oppressive heat and found a campsite several miles away. They wouldn’t make it to Derdriu that night, but Leonie didn’t mind – she preferred tents and stars and open air to an unfamiliar city and crowded inn, anyway.

She’d heard Claude say to Hilda that it was a shame they couldn’t make a beach day of it tomorrow, with the ocean just down the road, and he’d spoken so casually. As if the ocean were nothing at all. And so it didn’t seem like a big deal, to leave dinner early and follow the path to the edge of the cliff and climb down the rocks and stand on the beach. Claude had made the ocean seem so ordinary, when he joked about it with Hilda. Leonie had never realized how foolish he was, until she stood beside the ocean that he had ignored so flippantly.

It made her feel small. It made the lake seem small. It made her village seem small. It made the whole damn war seem so impossibly, ridiculously insignificant that she could hardly stand it.

Another wave lapped against her kneecap, and Leonie flinched. She feared it. She loved it.

“I’m surprised Claude didn’t try to bring the whole class here, aren’t you?”

Leonie flinched again. Post-battle exhaustion was making her jumpy. She turned to see Lorenz walking down the beach behind her, his footprints sinking heavy into the sand. He’d changed out of battle armor, but still looked out of place in his shoes and long, tailored pants. He stood far back enough the waves barely touched him, casting an amused glance at Leonie in her bare feet and sandy legs– she’d left her boots and jacket against the rocks at the far edge of the shore.

“I guess he’s seen enough beaches to last him,” she said with an indifferent shrug, turning back to the water. She was surprised Lorenz had bothered following her. She hadn’t made it a secret that she was leaving camp that evening, but he surely had better things to do, especially now that the Hero of Daphnel traveled with them.

But instead of greasing palms or pouring wine or whatever it was nobles did to impress each other when they wanted something, Lorenz was standing here with her. Or, well, he was standing a resolute 2 feet away from her, as the waves continued to barely lap against his shoes, which looked expensive and impractical, in Leonie’s estimation.

Lorenz crossed his arms and scoffed, looking out over the horizon. “You’re probably right,” he said. “Riegan is close enough to Derdriu, and this little scrap of sand is nothing compared to those coastline vistas, wouldn’t you say? Although,” he added, leaning in conspiratorially, even if his feet remained firmly planted on relatively dry ground, “I would say if you really want a beach, you should go to Enbarr. The coasts of Adestria put even Gloucester’s natural beauty to shame. And the waters up north are so cold; what’s the sense of an ocean if you can’t even dip your toes in it in the summer?”

Leonie shrugged, looking down at her feet. The water was cold, she supposed, but her toes had long gone too numb to notice. “I wouldn’t know,” she said shortly. “I’ve never seen one before.”

“What? You – surely you don’t mean an _ocean_?” Lorenz asked, genuinely shocked. His genuineness could hurt so badly. “Come now, Leonie, you’ve been to a beach before.”

“When would I have?” Leonie asked, finally turning to look at him. The waves lapped against the backs of her knees. “Where I grew up, it was landlocked. We didn’t take trips much of anywhere. And Garreg Mach is even more inland. I’ve seen rivers before, lakes. But this is, well. I just don’t have any opinions on Adestrian beaches versus Alliance ones, I suppose!”

“I – no, of course not, of course you wouldn’t,” Lorenz said, recovering from his shock slightly. He paused, holding silence between them as one wave crashed, then another. Then he added, more quietly, “What do you think?”

“I’ve never seen something that was so – so much,” Leonie replied, stumbling to describe the sensation of pure weight and pure weightlessness that she felt when she looked out onto the ocean. “I wish we had more time here.” She smiled, and if she’d been close enough to playfully punch Lorenz in the arm, she would have. “I’d even like to see those Adestrian oceans that you’re mentioning. They seem great.”

“I’ll take you,” Lorenz blurted out, and Leonie realized that she _could_ have punched his arm, if she’d looked over, because he was standing right next to her, his hand midway to grabbing hers, and when she looked at him he dropped his arm. The waves lapped over his feet and splashed up on his ankles. He looked down, and shifted uncomfortably in the sand.

“When the war is over,” he added, not looking at her. “We can go see them all. We can stay however long you want. I can teach you how to sail,” he added, and Leonie imagined he must have meant it as added incentive.

Leonie laughed delightedly. As if Lorenz would have time after the war to travel the continent with some village girl he’d met in the army. Still, a noble like him would probably do a lot of traveling. He’d probably see a lot of oceans. And she had no plans after the war, which she longed for, which she dreaded. It could be a possibility . . .

“Are you offering me a job, then?” she asked, hands on her hips, looking up at him with a grin. “Personal bodyguard for the future Count Glouster? I’ll be in need of work, you know. And if you’re planning on traveling, you won’t always have a fancy army to protect you.”

“Yes! Yes, exactly,” Lorenz said, his expression flickering in a way Leonie couldn’t quite interpret. Perhaps she’d been presumptuous, but if he was going to offer the job, she could forgive herself for jumping to conclusions. “I’ll of course need to visit many noble families as we establish peace across the continent. I just meant that if you applied to work in my personal retinue, you’d have a chance to travel a bit more. I’m sure that would be nice. For you. I’m sure that would be nice for you.”

“Well, if you put in a good word for me, I just might do that,” Leonie said with a smile. He might forget this conversation tomorrow; he’d certainly made no promises. But it was a nice life to think about, traveling the world like that. Even if it hurt to think about it too seriously, or for too long.

“You should,” Lorenz said, leaning down towards her. “I’m told the beaches in Nuvelle are some of the finest in the world, and as the future Count of Gloucester I’m sure it will be my responsibility to –”

“Yes, yes, you’ll be very important,” Leonie said. “Now that that’s settled, how far out do I have to go until I see a coral reef? We’re losing sunlight!”

“I don’t think – Leonie, it’s far too cold for coral to thrive this far north,” Lorenz said, but Leonie had already waded further into the ocean, the water brushing against her shorts.

“A dolphin, then? Come on, don’t just stand there, I want to see something good,” Leonie called, and she started running through the water along the shoreline until running was impossible, and then she was swimming, and somehow, remarkably, Lorenz was running after her, and then swimming after her, calling to her to stay where he could see her.

He left his shoes on the beach before he ran, but by the time they returned, the saltwater waves had thoroughly ruined them.

When he told Leonie he didn’t mind, she almost believed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I 100% bet you Lorenz has those dumb boating shoes and Leonie laughs and laughs at him the first time he takes her sailing.
> 
> [ You can catch me on twitter.](https://twitter.com/Rose3Writes)


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